From something Ive just read MCAS was to compensate for the fact that due to the new engine nacelles the pitch stablity was so poor that it would tighten up in a turn at low airspeed and that it actually required a push on the control column to defeat this which is quite unaceptable in an airliner, not so much in a Pitts.
Obviously this could not have been corrected by adjusting the elevator cct feel so it explains the why of why did they do it this way