I find it clearly designed to take a front rack, with a rear rack as the second option. It still has the dual eyelets at the dropouts in the rear. You could use a collar mount for the upper stays, or a single to the fender eyelet.

But it has more mounting holes on the fork. Top, mid, and dropout. Low rider, or not low rider, or basket. Notably not 3-pack. And it definitely has fender mounts.

There are some things about the bike that I don’t like. That’s going to be true for any bike presented at mass market to picky people. But no Surly ever made has had not enough braze-ons for its niche