Former Dodgers official part of Cards' scouting team

LOS ANGELES -- If the Dodgers get out-scouted in the National League Championship Series, they have a past member of the organization to blame.

Former Dodgers official Matt Slater and Jeff Ishii are the St. Louis scouts that followed the Dodgers through the NL Division Series against the Braves and prepared the scouting reports the Cardinals are using for the series, which they lead after winning the first two games.

Slater is St. Louis' director of player personnel, joining the franchise after an eight-year stint with the Dodgers as director of scouting operations, director of baseball operations and director of professional scouting.

He joined the Dodgers when Kevin Malone was general manager, having previously worked together with Baltimore.

"For me to walk back into this stadium, I really have mixed feelings," Slater said Sunday as the Cardinals worked out at Dodger Stadium. "I have a lot of good friends here."

Slater said he credits Cardinals ownership for "creating an environment of stability" that translates into the success the organization has had in recent years.