It means if the Rockies were playing in an overrated blowhard division like the AL East, they would be right in the thick of the division race. But since they play in a much better division, the wild card is their only hope. And we're very fortunate that Tampa Bay had those really good teams in the early 2000s. That caused enough squealing from the entitled Yankee and Red Sox camps that MLB had to create a second wild card.