The St. Louis Cardinals announced a series of leadership changes Wednesday, signaling yet another significant transition for one of baseball’s most historic franchises.Bill DeWitt III, son of longtime chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., will take over as the Cardinals’ chief executive officer. Anuk Karunaratne, who previously served as the team’s senior vice president of business operations, will assume DeWitt III’s former role as president. DeWitt Jr. will remain principal owner and chairman, a position he has held since purchasing the team in 1996.These moves come just months after Chaim Bloom replaced John Mozeliak as president of baseball operations, the first change atop that department since 2007.Over the course of DeWitt Jr.’s 30-year tenure, he has overseen one of the most successful runs in recent baseball history, including 12 division titles, four National League pennants and two World Series championships. DeWitt Jr. also led the charge in building a new, privately funded stadium in downtown St. Louis in 2006, along with the development of Ballpark Village adjacent to Busch Stadium in 2014.
DeWitt III was named team president in 2008 and was a driving force behind the completion of Busch Stadium and the development of Ballpark Village. In recent years, he has taken a larger role in negotiating the organization’s partnerships with its former regional sports network, Bally Sports Midwest, and now with Major League Baseball.Karunaratne joined the Cardinals ahead of the 2024 season after several years in the same role with the Toronto Blue Jays. With the Cardinals facing a sharp decline in attendance after missing the playoffs the last three seasons, one of Karunaratne’s top priorities was improving an outdated game day experience to entice a younger generation of fans to come to the ballpark. That led to the Cardinals hosting postgame concerts in 2025 for the first time and helped spark the viral “Tarps Off” movement earlier this year.This is the second seismic leadership change for the Cardinals in the last year. Mozeliak, who served as general manager and president of baseball operations for nearly two decades, stepped down from his position at the end of the 2025 season. That decision was planned a year in advance, with the Cardinals dubbing last season a “transition year” in which Bloom and Mozeliak worked in a semi-tandem to attempt to provide as seamless a transition as possible.The Cardinals expected this season to be a rebuilding year, but they’ve been one of the biggest surprises in baseball. Perhaps invigorated by its youthful core, St. Louis (42-35) is in second place in the National League Central and could be in position to buy at the trade deadline.These decisions come after the Cardinals fell far short of their expectations over the last few seasons, starting with the rapid decline of their player development system. To get the club back on track, ownership knew it would have to change team operations.It appears ownership felt it was time to change its operations as well.Jun 24, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms
