Basically: if Larian really wants to have its exploding barrels laying around, they could at least make it so that they are, for all intents and purposes, just a fixed part of the scenario that the player can't carry in droves, accumulate in specific spot and toss around like marbles.
And IF you have a character that is actually above the strength threshold expected to move a barrel (let's say 19 or 20) he should at most be able to hug one, raise it from the floor and VERLY slowly move it around a bit, let's say like it happens in
Shogun: Shadow Tactics when you move a container.
EDIT: found a Youtube clip as reference:
https://youtu.be/ypgl6cxxIXg?t=544
