If there was .050 wear on a journal you almost couldn't drive it from the noise of the knocking rod and fear of blowing up or throwing a rod.
There is quite a bit of difference from the 3.8 having a common problem and a 3.8 having a problem from neglect and abuse, of which both of the latter are preventable, whereas, for example, a gasket leaking or a valve stem seal leaking at say 100K miles regularly is prevented through repair. 3.8s, on here anyway, has had only one other 3.8 rebuild in the past two years, based on unknown history and not running when purchased, to which a crank kit was done.
Basically, until a micrometer is placed on the journal to determine its amount of wear, an eyeball is not accurate enough to tell, but at the same time a machine shop that does do crankshaft turning should be able to get a replacement one, too.