On Tuesday night, the St. Louis Cardinals announced that there would be an "important" announcement about the club's ownership on Wednesday afternoon. Immediately, the chatter out there began to revolve around the idea of Bill DeWitt Jr. potentially transitioning leadership of the organization to Bill DeWitt III. On Wednesday, that speculation was confirmed. The Cardinals announced that DeWitt III has been promoted to the role of chief executive officer and Anuk Karunaratne has been named as the team's president of business operations. Change Is Here For St. LouisAug 24, 2019; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals chairman Bill Dewitt III. looks on during a ceremony prior to the start of a game against the Colorado Rockies during an MLB Players' Weekend game at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images"The Cardinals announced the following promotions to the organization's executive leadership team today: Bill DeWitt III has been named CEO of the Cardinals," the Cardinals announced. "Anuk Karunaratne has been named President of Business Operations. Alongside these promotions, Bill DeWitt Jr. will continue in his role as Chairman and Principal Owner."The Cardinals announced the following promotions to the organization's executive leadership team today:Bill DeWitt III has been named CEO of the Cardinals.Anuk Karunaratne has been named President of Business Operations.Alongside these promotions, Bill DeWitt Jr. will… pic.twitter.com/nOFSGcRMnx— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) June 24, 2026With the changes, how does this change the organization? In the short term, it doesn't really change much with the team. Back in January, DeWitt Jr. acknowledged that he won't be around forever and talked about the idea of transitioning leadership. “Our family’s – count my father – been in baseball a long time, and I think it will continue. That’s the plan,” DeWitt Jr. said. “I’m getting to an age where I’m not going to be around forever. Bill the third is at a perfect age to continue on for a long time. So, you know, that’s our goal. We’re baseball people, and third generation here, probably fourth underneath him coming along somewhere.” The Cardinals set the stage for this transition and this is just the beginning. DeWitt Jr. is 84 years old and has been the owner of the club since 1995. With the change right now, DeWitt Jr. won't handle the day-to-day operations to the same extent as he did in the past. DeWitt III will be the guy who leads the organization into the future and that was already the expectation. The club is staying in the family, and that arguably is for the best. St. Louis is trending up and the organization has been in good hands since the DeWitt's took over. Change is here, but it's nothing crazy for the fanbase to worry about at this time. This is about as smooth a transition as any team could realistically hope for at this point in a season. While there is technically a change here, the long-term vision isn't shifting. Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow