I must second Faré's response. We are free to modify ASDF, I believe, and to improve it, but with backward compatibility as a boundary condition.
I encourage you to take these ideas --- which seem like good ones --- and invest them either in tool support or into a true ASDF /successor/, such as XCVB.
Alternatively, if you can achieve some of them in the ASDF framework (e.g., improve test-op or add a release-op), more power to you!
Best, Robert