Draft, Salem was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 10th round, but did not sign. On June 13, 2006, Salem and teammate Wade LeBlanc were named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) First-Team All-South Region team. Before his senior season in 2007, Salem was named to the Brooks Wallace Award and Dick Howser Trophy watch list. He was also named a pre-season All-American by the College Baseball Foundation, Rivals.com and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. On his academic success, Salem commented, "I really do take pride in my grades...When a lot of guys go out, I'm in the library studying. So, I definitely make the sacrifices." On his 22 birth day, Salem hit two home runs in his first two at-bats in a game against Georgia State University. In 2007, Salem was nominated by the University of Alabama for the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship and received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, the highest honor offered by the University of Alabama. He graduated with a 3.85 final grade point average. He later won the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship, which was awarded to him at the annual SEC spring meeting in Destin, Florida, on May 31, 2007. On April 17, 2007, it was announced that Salem, along with 30 other college baseball players, were finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Salem was named to the ESPN the Magazine's First-Team Academic All-American Team, making it his second consecutive season to receive that honor. Salem won the inaugural Lowe's Senior CLASS Award after beating out 29 other finalists. Salem was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-American Team after the 2007 season. On the 2007 season, his final at Alabama, Salem batted .351 with 61 runs, 81 hits, seven doubles, three triples, seven home runs, 32 RBIs, and 23 stolen bases in 57 games. Professional career The Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now known as the Tampa Bay Rays) drafted Salem in the 6th round of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft. Salem began his professional career with the Class-A Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades. With the Renegades, he batted .311 with 41 runs, 70 hits, 11 doubles, seven triples, one home run, 23 runs batted in (RBIs) and 28 stolen bases in 58 games. Salem was tied for second in the New York – Penn League in triples and was third in stolen bases. He