Jon Jay & Brant Brown join Major League coaching staff for 2025; Willie McGee transitions to special assistant role
ST. LOUIS, Mo., October 22, 2024 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have named Brant Brown as Hitting Coach and former Cardinals World Series Champion outfielder Jon Jay to the team’s Major League coaching staff where he will serve as Coach in 2025. Cardinals Hall of Famer Willie McGee, who has served as a Coach since 2018, will transition to Special Assistant to President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak.
The team also announced that it still intends to make further additions to its Major League coaching staff for 2025.
Jay, 39, was a member of the Cardinals from 2010 to 2015, and enjoyed a 12-year playing career that also included stops with San Diego (2016), the Chicago Cubs (2017), Kansas City (2018), Arizona (2018, 2020), the Chicago White Sox (2019), and the Los Angeles Angels (2021). He played in World Series in both 2011 and 2013 with the Cardinals, and will long be remembered by Cardinals fans for his role in the team’s 2011 World Series Game 6 rally.
A Miami, Fla. native, who was drafted (2nd round) by the Cardinals in 2006, Jay served as a First Base/Outfield Coach with the Miami Marlins for the past two seasons (2023-24).
Brown, 53, recently served as Bench Coach and Offensive Coordinator with the Seattle Mariners for part of the 2024 season, following a stint as Hitting Coach for the Miami Marlins in 2023. Brown previously held the positions of Los Angeles Dodgers Assistant Hitting Coach (2020-22) and Minor League Hitting Strategist (2018-19), Mariners Minor League Offensive Coordinator (2017) and Outfield Coordinator (2013-16), and various coaching roles in the Texas Rangers minor leagues (2007-12).
The Porterville, Calif. native was drafted by the Cubs in the 3rd round of the 1992 MLB Draft and played parts of five seasons with the Cubs (1996-98, 2000), Pirates (1999), and Marlins (2000).