Maybe up in an old alcove of Shea Stadium, Jim Duquette unfurls a sly grin. Maybe he tells himself that when he gave the Devil Rays Scott Kazmir, they didn’t really get the Mets’ top farm arm.

Kazmir is obviously talented – left-handed arms like his come around only so often. But the Mets have a kid almost a year younger who might be as good – or better. Suffice it to say, even before the trade, the race for top Mets pitching prospect wasn’t quite as clear as it seemed. Some think Yusmeiro Petit was winning.

The right-handed youngster out of Maracaibo, Venezuela, is a hefty kid, the same 6 feet as Kazmir, plus 60 pounds. And while his fastball won’t have anyone running for cover, he can hit 95 when he needs to. Petit has actually pitched more innings at this point than Kazmir, although the latter missed time this summer due to a rib cage strain.

Here are the numbers. In 22 more career innings, Petit, who is pitching now for High-A St. Lucie, has a vastly better strikeout-to-walk ratio than Kazmir (5.6 to 3.2), and a slightly better strikeout-per-nine-innings ratio (12.06 to Kazmir’s 11.58).

More telling, however, could be each pitcher’s relative fall to earth when he moved from Low-A Capital City to High-A St. Lucie, where the competition is quite a bit tougher.

Last year at Capital City, where he spent nearly the entire season, Kazmir had 105 strikeouts and 28 walks in 76.3 innings, good for 12.4 Ks per nine innings. In his next 59 innings for St. Lucie, he struck out 69 – still good (10.5), but down 15%.

In 83 innings early this summer at Capital City, Petit notched an eye-popping 122 strikeouts and 22 walks – a rate of 13.2 batters fanned per nine innings.

In Petit’s move to St. Lucie, he didn’t fall down to earth – his K/9 IP actually went up 4%, from 12.4 to 12.9. In 7 starts for St. Lucie, Petit’s ERA has plummeted to 1.24 from a Capital City mark of 2.39. Conversely, Kazmir’s earned run average rose from 2.36 to 2.59.

But there’s no need to worry about Kazmir any more; Petit’s inherited the crown, and he’s making fans – even of opposing managers.

“Right now he’s one of the top three arms I saw in this league this year,” said Ken Joyce, manager of the Charleston Alley Cats, the South Atlantic League affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. “I wasn’t in this league last year, I was at double A, but I tell you, he has an arm that could have pitched there too. He seems to have a very powerful midsection, and his upper legs were very thick. He has a pretty good idea of how to pitch, and he goes about his business professionally.”

You may not have heard of Petit before, as a player tends to need some High-A or Double-A seasoning before he starts to get the attention. But you may have seen him pitch.

Late last year, the then-18 year old right-hander had a stint with the Brooklyn Cyclones, pitching 12 1/3 innings in two starts, striking out 20. But it was this year in Capital City where he really made his mark.

“He was probably the best out of the younger guys that we saw,” said Steve Phillips, manager of the Sally League’s Greensboro Bats. “And by far one of the better pitchers in the league.”

Petit is still 10 months younger than Kazmir, although the Texan has now thrown 44 Double-A innings for Binghamton (Mets) and Montgomery (Tampa Bay). But Kazmir hasn’t been as overpowering, striking out only 46 batters in 44 innings, one fewer hitter per nine innings than in St. Lucie.

As for Petit, the memory of his dominance is still fresh in the South Atlantic League.

“He got ahead of us with his fastball, he got ahead in the count, and threw his breaking ball over for strikes,” said Joe Mikulik, skipper of the Sally’s Asheville Tourists. “His delivery was real smooth, nice and easy, the ball comes out of his hand nice and easy, fluid. He can be kind of deceiving. It’s not a herky jerky delivery, it’s nice and smooth, the ball can jump on top of you. Even if he’s not throwing hard he can be sneaky.”

But for all of his talent, according to Joyce, Petit still has room to improve.

“Everything he throws is pretty much hard. His fastball is anywhere from 92-95 mph, and his slider is very, very hard as well. The one thing he needs to do is do a better job of taking more speed off his changeup. If he can do that, he’s gonna be tough, that’s gonna be a great pitch for him.”

Kazmir or not, you know someone’s an ace in the making if his weakness is throwing too hard. And somewhere, deep in Flushing, Jim Duquette hears all this, and smiles.