The Sunday Read: Wrapping up 2021 for Texas Rangers. It wasn't nearly as bad as it looked.

The 102 losses left an unsightly scar, but not contending was actually part of a plan from which club officials never strayed.

President of baseball operations Jon Daniels and Texas Rangers stuck to their plan in 2021, which meant 102 losses but also the addition of Marcus Semien (The Associated Press/Richard W. Rodriguez).

The 102 losses the Texas Rangers amassed during the 2021 season soured many of their already-soured fans.

It was the Rangers’ fifth straight losing season, but none of the others were quite this bad. The players who took the field every day didn’t have much chance of winning, and most of those players weren’t pieces for what whatever this rebuild was that Jon Daniels was selling.

They even traded Joey Gallo for a bunch of prospects.

And yet … 2021 was a very good year for the Rangers.

Yes, really.

The things that needed to fall into place fell into place while the big-league club was losing just about two of every three games. Those things happened in places like Hickory, N.C., and at the turnstiles and concession stands at Globe Life Field.

From all of that came the next phase in the rebuild, spending some money.

Ultimately, from Jan. 1 to Dec. 1, when baseball business was frozen by a lockout, the Rangers stuck to their plan (including the losing season) and made 2021 far more successful than their record.

Here’s how.