The wild-card winners of recent seasons can endorse that view.
But for the first time since 2002, the wild-card winner may not come from the East.
The only other wild-card winner was the 1980 Oakland Raiders.
They would have preferred to return as proud wild-card winners, in the midst of a taut division series.
After all, the 1995 Yankees were the American League's first-ever wild-card winner.
By rule, the Tigers can only play the wild-card winner if that team comes from a different division.
Last year their payroll was fourth, and they finished two games out of first in the division and one game behind the wild-card winner.
The last wild-card winners were the Oakland Raiders in 1981.
The Dodgers, the wild-card winner, made Games 1 and 3 close for a while, but they were not able to play on the Mets' level.
"Our goal is to win the division, not to just be the wild-card winner," Phillips said.
