Busch Stadium, 22 hours before the home opener:

The St. Louis Cardinals made a big splash earlier this offseason by landing the biggest fish on the free-agent market. Thursday, they made sure the biggest catch they already had will never get away.

With less than a week before the team opens the 2010 campaign in Cincinnati, the Cardinals announced that they extended Albert Pujols to a lifetime contract. Pujols, who was set to become a free agent after the 2011 season, will earn $30 million each year for the rest of his career with the birds on the bat on his chest.

In wrapping up the three-time MVP, the Cardinals took an additional and unexpected step in signing both of their marquee player’s young sons to lifetime contracts, as well. Albert Jr., 9, who goes by “AJ,” and his brother Ezra, born Feb. 5, will report to the team’s rookie affiliate when they come of age, though they will occasionally appear at spring training in the meantime. Because of child-labor laws, specifics of the boys’ deal were not disclosed.

“We thought we had done a lot by keeping Matt [Holliday], but fans still doubted our commitment,” said chairman Bill Dewitt, Jr. “By signing all of the males in the Pujols family, we wanted to demonstrate to our fans that they don’t ever have to worry about our commitment to winning.”

General manager John Mozeliak echoed Dewitt’s comments.

“With the way the marketplace for young talent is today, we wanted to lock in not only Albert but the opportunity to have AJ and Ezra continue in their father’s footsteps, as Cardinals,” Mozeliak said.

The amateur signings intrigued Baseball America’s Jim Callis, who noted that “the unusually young age of the boys makes it difficult to project their future performance,” the Pujolses will boost the team’s farm system ranking back into the top 10.

Jeff Luhnow, the Cardinals’ VP of Amateur Scouting and Player Development, took credit for the signing. “Although technically the boys were born in the US, they have Dominican heritage. Sure, Albert helped us with the initial contact, but AJ and Ezra appreciated what we are doing with Latin players and wanted to be a part of it. Our system is clearly working.”

“We’re all very happy,” Pujols said. “Everybody agreed on it. I’m just happy. I’m glad it’s over. Now it’s time to play baseball and concentrate on the season.”

Said AJ, “Now it’s time to go to school and concentrate on my spelling test.”

Ezra was nursing and was unavailable for comment.

For the press conference, Dewitt admitted that he considered using the jersey of infamous midget Eddie Gaedel for AJ. The jersey originally belonged to Dewitt when he was a nine-year-old batboy for the St. Louis Browns.

“Cardinal baseball is all about tradition,” he said. “I wanted to keep it in the family, but Albert reminded me that AJ has a special clause in his contract whereby we outfit him for public events in new clothes from Gap Kids.”

The Cardinals are expected to announce another deal soon that would bring hitting coach Mark McGwire’s seven-year-old son Max to the team as a special instructor upon his graduation from high school.

It’s prognosticating season for the United Cardinal Bloggers and Baseball Bloggers Alliance, so it’s time to reveal our fearless predictions for the 2010 season. As for the standings, we consulted Neil Paine’s Marcel-projected standings, BaseballProjection’s Depth-chart standings and their starting-lineup standings and the PECOTA version. Here’s how we see things going* in the National League this year:

The Cardinals and Dodgers are pretty much consensus picks, and for good reason: They have two of the most balanced lineups in the league, and certainly in their respective divisions. The only competition that the Cardinals will have will be their own bodies, though the emergence of Jaime Garcia mitigates some of the injury risk among the starting pitching. Beyond the Cardinals in the Central, the second through fourth spots are going to see a lot of churn, with the Cubs, Brewers and Reds all fighting it out. In the East, a lot of people like the Braves this year, and though they have a meritorious case, we prefer the Phillies’ lineup and first two starters. After all, one team gained Roy Halladay and the other lost Javier Vazquez.

And for the junior circuit:

We know, we know: No one is picking the Mariners to win the West, especially after last week’s news on Cliff Lee, except maybe the statheads, which title we’d proudly accept. One things for sure: They’re going to have the best defense in baseball (John Dewan projects them to save more than twice as many runs as the next-best defensive team). Though they have some delicate pieces — Milton Bradley and Ken Griffey, Jr. — and batters who generate a lot of outs — Jose Lopez and Jack Wilson — their frontline starters are enough to keep them in a division of undistinguished teams.

*On principle, we don’t pick wild-card winners or World Series champions.

In honor of that great missionary to Ireland, St. Patrick, we give you the all-time St. Louis Irish team, comprised of players who, according to Baseball-Reference, were born in Ireland and played at least one game for a professional St. Louis team. We confess that we cheated on one of them, but, in fairness, lad, only 43 Irish-born men have actually played in the major leagues.

Pitcher: Pete Daniels (County Cavan, Ireland)
Smiling Pete went eight years between appearances (talk about pitching on rest) and tossed 54 2/3 innings with the 1898 Browns (the Cardinal franchise).

Pitcher: Con Lucid (Dublin, Ireland)
Lucid threw 49 innings with the Browns (NL) in 1897. He ended his career in St. Louis and later, sadly, ended his own life.

Catcher: Jack O’Neill C/1B/OF (Galway, Ireland)
O’Neill caught only 280 games in his career, which began with the Cardinals in 1902. So his claim to fame was being traded with Hall of Famer Mordecai Brown to the Cubs. His 2nd most-similar batter is Pujols. Luis Pujols.

1B: Tony Mullane (Cork, Ireland)
Before Greg Harris and Pat Venditte, there was "The Apollo of the Box," Tony Mullane. Like Billy Wagner, Mullane injured his right arm and learned to throw lefthanded. He resumed throwing righthanded after his arm healed and would even alternate throwing from each side in the same game. Best known as a pitcher, he tossed 460 2/3 innings and played outfield, first base and second base for the Browns in 1883, then tried to sign with the St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association but the reserve clause prevented it.

2B: Hugh Daily (Ireland)
One-Arm Daily broke in as a 34-year-old rookie and once struck out 483 batters in a single season. But his "horrific, cuss-laden in-game outbursts towards the opposition, umpires, fans, and teammates" led to no team ever re-signing him for a second season. One of those teams was the St. Louis Maroons, for whom he pitched (and swore) in 1885. Playing with only one hand, he logged two games as a second baseman the year before and turned a double play as a shortstop.

3B: Paddy O’Connor (County Kerry, Ireland)
O’Connor mostly caught in his 83-game major-league career, but his one game at third base is enough for our team, as are his seven games for the Cardinals in 1914, when he posted a -23 OPS+. We didn’t even know that was possible.

SS: Brendan Ryan
His name is about as Irish as you can get, but alas, "The Flyin’ Irishman" hails from California. Tá bron orm!

OF: Patsy Donovan (Queenstown, Ireland)
With 8172 plate appearances in a 17-year career, Donovan is the most accomplished Irish hitter. As a Cardinal, the slap-hitting outfielder led the league with 45 stolen bases in 1900 and later became the team’s player-manager and baseball’s highest-paid player, with an $8,000 salary in 1902.

OF: Mike O’Neill (Maam, Ireland)
A lifelong Cardinal, O’Neill was was one of four brothers who played in the major leagues, including Jack (see above) and Paul (just kidding there). He was "a good-hitting pitcher who occasionally played in the left field" and is known (well, not by many) for hitting the first pinch grand slam in major league history, which happened to be an inside-the-parker. He also became the first National League pitcher to hit a grand slam in the 20th century.

OF: Sleeper Sullivan (Ireland)
The guy went by "Sleeper," and his given name was Thomas Jefferson Sullivan. His nickname was "Old Iron Hands." That alone is an impressive career. The former Maroon and Brownie outfielder-catcher-pitcher is buried at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, resting place of General William Tecumseh Sherman, Dred Scott and Tennessee Williams.

Thanks to Fungoes designer James McKie