Bill DeWitt III promoted from president to chief executive officer of the Cardinals

ST. LOUIS (AP) 鈥� Bill DeWitt III was named chief executive officer of on Wednesday after serving as team president since 2008.

The Cardinals also announced the promotion of Anuk Karunaratne to president of business operations as part of a restructuring following as president of baseball operations last September.

鈥淚n some ways, it鈥檚 not that big of a change, as all of us up here have been working together closely for a couple years now,鈥� DeWitt III said. 鈥淏ut in formalizing these roles, we鈥檙e just firming up the leadership structure that will lay the foundation for the next wave of organizational and team success.鈥�

DeWitt III, 58, oversaw the opening of Busch Stadium in 2006 and the development and launch of Ballpark Village Phase I in 2014 and Phase II in 2020.

Bill DeWitt Jr. continues as chairman and principal owner and will continue his involvement in team baseball and business matters.

鈥淣othing鈥檚 really changed,鈥� DeWitt Jr. said. 鈥淚 stay in touch with obviously Bill III. Baseball (operations) stays in touch with me. I talk all the time, so I may or may not be here, but I鈥檓 here in spirit and available 24/7 so I鈥檓 tightly in touch with all the things we鈥檙e looking to do.鈥�

Karunaratne joined the Cardinals in 2024 as senior vice president of business operations. He previously was the Toronto Blue Jays鈥� executive vice president of business operations.

鈥淲e all know what the Cardinals can be at their best,鈥� Karunaratne said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we鈥檙e building towards, and ultimately that matters. It matters to this organization, it matters to this city, and it matters to every one of our fans. We鈥檙e ready, and we鈥檙e going to get after it.鈥�

The Cardinals qualified for postseason play 17 times in DeWitt Jr.鈥檚 first 27 seasons at the helm of the franchise and drew at least 2.9 million fans in every full season from 1998 through 2023.

The club, however, has not having made the postseason since 2022. Attendance has dropped to 30-year lows.

鈥淟ike the business, there鈥檚 been a lot of change, and it鈥檚 change that has been accelerating, probably over the last five years, and I think right now baseball organization is in good shape with Chaim and some of the changes he鈥檚 made,鈥� DeWitt III said. 鈥淚 come at it more as somebody that is ready and sort of willing to go a little deeper into the organization on the baseball side than perhaps I have in the past and just really learn. When you鈥檙e in this role for 18 years, you know everybody in the business side, so when issues come up, what people鈥檚 opinions are, you鈥檙e collecting them where people are coming from. I want to get to that point on the baseball side.鈥�

DeWitt III鈥檚 promotion continues a family legacy in the game of baseball that dates back to his grandfather.

鈥淚 love pointing out my grandfather鈥檚 role here, he was here about 20 years as treasurer, worked with Branch Rickey, and that鈥檚 a point of pride for me,鈥� DeWitt III said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty cool. It isn鈥檛 too often that you see, particularly in an organization like this, have that much heritage in one family.鈥�

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