Albert Pujols rather enjoys pummeling his hometown Royals, the franchise that somehow overlooked him as a high school player in Kansas City.

What Pujols did to that team Sunday ought to be against the law.

This begs the question, "What would Albert do to the Cardinals should this team fail to lock him up with an suitable contract extension?"

One shudders of the thought of El Hombre coming back to Busch Stadium as, say, a New York Met and blasting one homer after another into Big Mac Land. That would not be a good scene.

Because we are here to serve, here is a five-step plan Bill DeWitt can use to keep Pujols.

1) Turn dead money into Albert money. Take the millions the Cards are paying Troy Glaus to not play this year and give it to Pujols, starting in 2010. When Glaus’ money comes off the books, simply allocate it for Albert.

Offer him a signing bonus of $23 million paid over the final two years of his current contract. Offer him five additional years of Glaus+Pujols money -- $27 million per season, give or take a few nickels. It would be just that easy.

The mid-market Cards can afford to keep their elite players. Pujols, Chris Carpenter, Kyle Lohse, Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina are examples of that. Mark McGwire, Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen were earlier examples.

The mid-market Cards can NOT afford to sink tens of millions into inactive or otherwise useless players like, say, Mark Mulder. A third of their 2008 payroll was tied up in dead money.

This year, the money wasted on Glaus and Adam Kennedy could have gone toward renting Matt Holliday for the summer. Fans complain that Bill DeWitt doesn’t spend enough on players, but dead money has been the real killer since the World Championship season.

2) Restore the missing 10 percent from the 2009 payroll and participate in baseball’s looming fire sale. Revenues are down for the Cardinals, but the scenario isn’t as dire as DeWitt feared. Not many teams are in position to spend in this economic environment, so this team could have some interesting options once teams begin bailing.

3) Stay the course on player development. Fans don’t want to hear this, of course, but the Cards must maintain a steady flow of young talent to the big league club. Using 14 different rookies (and counting) in one season is a bit extreme, but the kids offer inexpensive production.

Brendan Ryan and Tyler Greene both look capable of playing shortstop. One could move to second base and allow Skip Schumaker to return to the outfield. Colby Rasmus is ready to play every day in the outfield.

Chris Perez and Jason Motte offer long-term bullpen help and Kyle McClellan could move to the rotation. David Freese, Brett Wallace, Clayton Mortensen, Jaime Garcia, Jess Todd and others offer at least fill-in potential. Such players help balance the budget.

Good young pitching is especially valuable. It’s better to hang onto an Anthony Reyes too long than trade a Danny Haren too soon. Mistakes like that cost a fortune to overcome.

4) By filling more needs with home-grown players, the Cards can avoid investing significant dollars in mid-range veterans like Tino Martinez, Adam Kennedy and Juan Encarnacion. Instead, the club can focus on keeping its best players and adding impact help though trades or free agency.

5) Keep Tony La Russa happy. A manager with 2,500 career victories has options. This summer will test his relationship with general manager John Mozeliak. The Cards have an odd roster configuration, with three shortstops, three centerfielders and two first baseman

As a result, one shortstop is playing third base, a centerfielder is playing second base and a first baseman is in left field. This is not ideal. Also, the team needs to convert some of its left-handed hitting into right-handed hitting and locate somebody capable of hitting fourth without folding.

The Cards have the resources to keep Albert out of New York or Los Angeles. The franchise has the ability to keep Pujols AND still contend year after year, unlike the Texas Rangers after the ill-fated Alex Rodriguez signing.

There isn’t much margin for error, of course, but the opportunity IS there. Cards fans have every right to expect DeWitt and Mozeliak to make it happen.