It’s “rumor” season folks. When the bad (in a statistical sense) teams look to get better and the contending teams look to keep up with the Joneses, you know it’s rumor season.

One of the Joneses-keeper-uppers is the Dodgers, who have a glut of outfielders, namely Yasiel Puig, Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and Carl Crawford. Also likely to compete for an outfield spot is minor league prospect Joc Pederson, who could break the big league roster in the near future.

I thought dealing Puig might be the answer for the Dodgers, but it seems that they may have interest from other teams in Matt Kemp. Dealing him would solve their outfield dilemma until Pederson is ready for the bigs.

Sources: Mariners have expressed interest in trading for Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp, who is available. @FOXSports1

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 13, 2013

Kemp would be the perfect fit in Seattle.

Funny enough, Kemp has never actually played in Seattle, and has struggled in some of the other AL West ballparks, but nonetheless he would be a fit in the Emerald City.

Seattle has needs in the outfield and in the middle of the lineup. On that note, they could use a leadoff hitter as well.

While Kemp has experienced most of his success at the plate in the three and four spots in the lineup, he has been successful as a leadoff man. Kemp has hit .292 and has scored 33 runs with 25 extra base hits in 51 career games at leadoff.

The former Dodger could play leadoff, but he would likely hit third, or even fourth, in Seattle. A three-four-five combination of Kemp, Kendrys Morales and Kyle Seager would be pretty formidable.

The problem with the Dodgers being a contending team, and Kemp supposedly being available in a trade, is that the Dodgers will be picky about the return. They certainly aren’t going to trade him for the sake of trading him. After all, this is the guy who led the league in runs scored, home runs and runs batted in on his way to a top-two MVP finish, a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger award just two seasons ago.

Los Angeles is also going to be picky because they don’t have a lot of holes to fill. Having already addressed the potential problem at second base, the hot corner is likely the biggest need area for the Dodgers.

Unless the Mariners offer one of their big pitching prospects (extremely unlikely considering Kemp only played in 179 games the last two seasons,) the only piece LA would want is probably Kyle Seager. Unless the Dodgers think a couple of the M’s young, bullpen arms are of equal worth to Kemp,  Seager is the most likely target. If Kemp can get back to his 2010 form, then maybe the M’s would consider a swap of the two, but at this point Seager provides the only legitimate stability of any M’s position player. Meaning the team won’t even consider trading him unless the return is substantial.

If the Dodgers are willing to sell-low on Kemp to clear up their outfield picture, then the M’s could swing a deal. Should Kemp return to his 2010 form in Seattle, it would be all the better.