"Once upon a time, 2009 to be exact, Gerald Laird played in 135 games as the Tigers catcher and had 477 plate appearances.

He's not coming back to Detroit to do that.

But according to FOXSports.com reports from the general manager's meetings Thursday in Milwaukee, the Tigers are bringing Laird back to be Alex Avila's backup. The contract is pending the completion of a physical.

It made sense, however, for both sides to agree on this.

For Laird, he's had a year in St. Louis of getting accustomed to severely limited playing time, as he will see with the Tigers."