Cardinals all-time star Willie McGee will move from the dugout to an organizational role as the team continues to adapt and expand its major league coaching staff.

Brant Brown, who most recently served as bench coach and offensive coordinator at Seattle, will join the Cardinals as their new hitting coach, the team announced. The Cardinals also confirmed the addition of Jon Jay to Oliver Marmol's staff. His title will be coach, but his duties will also include working with the team's outfielders.

McGee, a Cardinals Hall of Fame member and former NL MVP who has held the coaching and dugout roles for seven seasons, is moving into a special assistant role.

The details of McGee's role will be detailed by the team later, but he is expected to be a presence in spring training and work with young players throughout the organization. Towards the end of the season, McGee expressed interest in remaining with the team, saying how much he enjoyed the teaching aspect of his role, particularly with some of the younger outfielders.

For McGee, it's a return to the role he initially held when he rejoined the organization's leadership in 2013 before moving to the day-to-day big league staff in 2018.

In the official announcement of the personnel change, the Cardinals added the sentence that the club “still intends to further strengthen its major league coaching staff through 2025.”

The Cardinals have previously said that Marmol will return for his fourth season as manager and that coaches such as Dusty Blake, Ron “Pop” Warner, Brandon Allen and Stubby Clapp had contracts through 2025 and were also expected back.

Hitting coach Turner Ward's contract expired and the team informed him it would not renew it at the end of the 2024 season.

Brown, 53, spent part of the 2024 season with the Mariners as a relief coach and in a newly created position for the team: offensive coordinator. In this role, he would assist the hitting coaches in preparing hitters and assist with mid-game adjustments. Previously, Brown served as hitters coach for the Marlins, where he worked alongside Jay on Skip Schumaker's first coaching staff in Miami.

Amid offensive struggles, the Mariners released Brown in late May.

Before heading to Miami, Brown had roles that fit the Cardinals' goals with their approach to hitting and their development as hitters. Brown was an assistant hitting coach for the Dodgers when they won the 2020 World Series and remained with LA through 2022. Previously, he served as a hitting strategist in player development for the Dodgers and had a role in the Mariners organization as a minor league offensive and outfield coordinator.

During his five seasons in the majors as a player, Brown appeared with the Cubs, Pirates and Marlins.

This story will be updated.