Are the strategic cruisers worth their price?
Solution 1:
For PvP they rock! look at this:
EHP: 136k
DPS: 663
SIG: 168
They have the hitpoints and firepower of a battleship with the signature of a cruiser.
Solution 2:
For missioning at least, yes.
I can't speak for other SCs but the Tengu tanks better than a Drake and has more DPS (potentially over 800). All this plus them being a lot faster than a BC means they can run missions faster than anything else.