What if this ship isn't really a replacement or upgrade for the 054A, but rather a successor to the entire 052 series and older destroyers?
True, but the 052D started out as a 052, and the 054B is larger than the 052, so maybe the PLAN designed this ship with modularity and maybe exportability in mind?
The very fact that we see the rotating dual-face AESA radar mounted on the top mast on the 054B FFGs meant she was never envisioned to have area air defence capabilities that is comparable to the likes of the 052C, 052D and 055. At best, the 054Bs will serve to fill the mid-range air defence gap of the PLAN with her HHQ-16s.
For a dedicated area air defence-capable platform (of which the 052C, 052D and 055 are meant to be), the radar arrays are required to be large and powerful, which means that they are also quite heavy as a result. Mounting them on the mast is going to make the ship top-heavy and unstable.
Besides, as a dedicated area air defence platform, the ship can't afford to lose those radars, meaning that those radar arrays must be able to be repaired/maintained in case of malfunction or wartime damages, especially outside of shipyards. This is very difficult to be conducted on radar arrays that are mounted that high up on top of the mast.
This is why you see the Burkes and Chinese AEGIS DDGs all have their phased array radars mounted on the fore superstructure in fixed positions and orientations.
In the meantime, I don't think that exportability is closely related to how the 052D was envisioned by PLAN planners and ship designers, given that much of their focus is primarily aimed at the requirements and demands of the PLAN.
Either way, the 054A doesn't appear old or outdated enough to justify replacing so early.
They aren't replacing the 054As, but relegating them to other operational domains which are more suited to their capabilites.