The Cardinals reached an agreement with catcher Gerald Laird, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch confirms the deal. Laird will serve as Yadier Molina's backup, replacing Jason LaRue.

Laird, 31, hit .207/.263/.304 in 299 plate appearances for the Tigers this year, catching 670 2/3 innings. He gunned down 34% of attempted basestealers, so the Cardinals will never be easy to run on in 2011. Laird's offensive woes in his two-year Detroit stint have relegated him to backup duty, and his starts could be particularly rare given Molina's durability.

Laird is represented by Scott Boras. Our transaction tracker reveals that he's the fourth Boras client to sign this winter. The free agent market for catchers is down to four viable options, three if Bengie Molina retires.
So much for the Cards wanting offense behind Yadier. I do not like this move one bit. Sure, he will be great defensively but that's not what they wanted. Why the **** did Bengie have to ask for starting money? Why didn't the Cards trade for Doumit and play him in RF and behind the plate instead of giving too much money to Berkman? Cards basically have the same problem they have had the past couple of years and Molina isn't likely to get anymore days off now.