Omar Minaya was humble in his comments after the Braves had been mathematically eliminated from winning their 15th divisional title.

“What Atlanta has done between (manager) Bobby Cox and (general
manager) John Schuerholz, what can you say?” Minaya said. “If there
were a Nobel Prize for baseball, they would be voted a Nobel Prize for
the work they've done there over the years. I like and respect what
they've done and what they've accomplished. I don't think it's been
done in the history of baseball.”

Minaya, himself fond of player development - even if the current Mets
have only a handful of homegrown players: David Wright, Jose Reyes,
Aaron Heilman, Lastings Milledge and Heath Bell - labeled the Braves
the blueprint for other teams, including the Mets, to follow.

“They do it right,” Minaya said. “They've done it right. And they'll
continue to do it right because they believe in scouting and
development, and they believe in their scouts and their people. There's
not enough good things for me to say about the Atlanta Braves and their
front office and what they've done and what they've accomplished.

“They are the model. They are the model of success in the past 15 years.”

Minaya was so respectful of the Braves that he used qualifiers before
last night's game regarding the official elimination of Atlanta from
division contention, saying things such as “If we clinch …”

There wasn't any gloating, of course.

“You're not going to get that from me,” Minaya said.

Chipper Jones recently paid his respects to the Mets, and wished them well in the playoffs.