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Infielder Ryan Dent, a sandwich pick in 2007, was promoted to Salem from low-A Greenville on Thursday and inserted into the lineup at shortstop.

Dent hit .252 with 24 doubles, six homer and 48 RBIs in 99 with Greenville, 65 at second base and 34 at shortstop.

Salem put infielder Luis Segovia on the disabled list to make room on the roster for Dent.

DOUG DOUGHTY’S UVA INSIDER FOR AUG. 27, 2009

It’s been so long since I’ve written one of these “UVa Insider” columns that I’d almost forgotten that it has been a regular contribution – not counting time off during the summers – for the past 10 years.

My memory was jogged by an off-handed assessment of one of UVa’s athletic programs, which reminded me that I customarily begin the college sports year by ranking the Cavalier programs.

The criterion is not what the program did last year; rather, it is an effort to assess where the program stands at this very moment.

Here are the Doughty rankings heading into the 2009-2010 school year:

1.    MEN’S TENNIS – Ninth-year coach Brian Boland still hasn’t brought Virginia men’s tennis an elusive first national championship but it’s got to be a matter of time. Five of Boland’s last six UVa teams have won ACC championships, three got to No. 1 in the rankings, two got to No. 2 and the Cavaliers have won two national indoor titles.

2.    BASEBALL – Brian O’Connor, entering his seventh season at UVa, took the Cavaliers on their first College World Series visit that included an ACC championship and separate Regional and Super Regional championships on the road. Almost everybody returns and O’Connor didn’t lose a single signee to the draft.

3.    SWIMMING – I’ve got to give it up for Mark Bernardino, whose men and women both won ACC championships and finished ninth and 12th, respectively, in the NCAAs. How many coaches in ACC history have won 19 championships, particularly in a sport where their schools is not a traditional power.

4.    MEN’S LACROSSE – The Cavaliers men’s lacrosse team goes further in the postseason than swimming, but lacrosse is something of a niche sport, with 59 teams at the Division I level, only 12 of which play Division I-A football. Cavs are looking for first ACC title since 2006.

5.    ROWING – Cavaliers came up short in their bid for a 10th straight ACC championship, falling to Clemson, but then beat the Tigers at every subsequent stage and finished fourth in the NCAA championships, one spot higher than 2008.

6.    WOMEN’S GOLF – Virginia entered the ACC championships ranked third in the country and finished fifth in the conference. The Cavaliers, who finished eighth in the NCAAs, are still a young program but are at a point where a conference championship is not an unrealistic goal.

7.    CROSS COUNTRY – Unlike Randy Bungard, his predecessor as director of UVa’s track and field and cross-country programs, Jason Vigilante is closely involved with cross country. The men won a second straight ACC championship, finished 14th in the NCAAs and had a terrific recruiting year. SEC individual champion Catherine White, a transfer from Arkansas, will greatly aid the women.

8.    WOMEN’S BASKETBALL – A highly ranked recruiting class might be the best news for veteran coach Debbie Ryan, whose team finished 24-10 for the second year in a row. It’s been ages since UVa won an ACC championship (1993) or went to the women’s Final Four (1993).

9.    MEN’S SOCCER – Virginia was picked to finish second in the ACC this year and received four first-place votes, one fewer than preseason favorite North Carolina. That’s saying a lot for a Cavaliers team that went 11-9-1 in 2008, when UVa was crippled by injuries. Virginia has not won an ACC title since 2004 and has three conference championships in coach George Gelnovatch’s 13 seasons.

10.    WOMEN’S LACROSSE – It is only fitting that women’s lacrosse is lumped together with men’s soccer and women’s soccer because those are three programs that could be great but frequently underachieve. More schools play soccer than lacrosse, but Myers has more ACC championships than her soccer counterparts put together, as well as an NCAA title.

11.  WOMEN’S SOCCER – Coach Steve Swanson’s team went into the season ranked No. 9 in the country and subsequently lost at No. 6 Penn State on the road. Not quite sure what that means. UVa was a preseason pick for fourth in the ACC after going 15-5-3. Cavs need higher standards than that.

12.    FIELD HOCKEY – Cavaliers were picked to win the ACC in a preseason poll, which is more than men’s or women’s soccer can say, but only six ACC teams have field-hockey teams. This is the 27th year in which UVa has had a field-hockey team and the Cavaliers are still looking for their first title, so it can’t be that easy.

13.    MEN’S BASKETBALL – It’s hard not to like personable, young Virginia men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett and he’s off to an impressive start in recruiting. Now, let’s see what he can do with a 2009-2010 UVa team that has enough material to fashion a winning record and advance to postseason play.

14.    TRACK AND FIELD – The UVa men’s track team is the reigning ACC champion and not a whole lot of Cavalier squads can say that. Give Bungard (see above) credit for setting the table but Vigilante looks to be in the Boland-O’Connor mold.

15.    WRESTLING – Former media gadfly Jeff White, still awaiting a new moniker in his new position at virginiasports.com, assures me that Steve Garland is building an outstanding wrestling program. However, Garland’s program won’t belong among UVa’s top 10 until he wins an ACC championship. Virginia has finished second by two points in each of the past two years.

16.    FOOTBALL – I know Al Groh can coach defense. I think that new coordinator Gregg Brandon could be an offensive wizard. The Cavaliers were very competitive over the last eight weeks of the 2008 season and I expect they’ll be competitive this year. I just don’t know how much of a future there is for Groh, who probably needs to win seven games to keep his job.

17.    MEN’S GOLF – You’ve got to hand it to Bowen Sargent. For anybody who thought it was a fluke when the Cavaliers made the NCAA championships in 2008, a repeat trip in 2009 was worthy of greater appreciation. The program won’t reach its full potential until Sargent can attract the top in-state recruits

18.    WOMEN’S TENNIS – Swifter progress might have been expected when UVa hired Marc Guilbeau after his 2006 selection as Southeastern Conference coach of the year at Kentucky, but if you’ve received four consecutive NCAA bids and you’ve got the 18th-best athletic program out of 20 at your school, then that says a lot for your school.

19.    VOLLEYBALL – Second-year coach Lee Maes strikes me as a real fireball, but UVa finished ninth in the ACC last year and was picked for seventh this year. A 15th-ranked recruiting class will help but UVa volleyball enters its 29th season without winning an ACC title.

20. SOFTBALL – I heard coach Eileen Schmidt speak at the Hotel Roanoke and she wasn’t nearly as long-winded as Al Groh, which may have endeared her to some of the listeners. She said she had a nationally-ranked recruiting class but UVa was 2-15 in the ACC last year (25-22). There’s a long way to go.

Snubbing softball, International Olympic leaders voted Thursday to recommend adding rugby and golf to the 2016 Olympics. Olympic officials had already booted softball from the 2012 Summer Games, and now they have rejected softball yet again. For golf? Come on. Like Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington really need more international exposure. For softball players, an Olympic medal has been the greatest achievement of their careers. That won't be the case for someone such as Tiger, who I'm sure would understandbly value winning majors and the Ryder Cup over any Olympic golf. That's why golf does not belong in the Olympics at the expense of softball. -- Mark Berman

Salem shortstop Kris Negron has been traded to Cincinnati Reds for Alex Gonzalez, the Boston Globe reported on its website Friday afternoon.

Negron played in all but three games for Salem this season, hitting .264 with 17 doubles, four triples, three homers and 34 RBIs. He stole 20 bases in 111 games.

Salem Red Sox general manager John Katz is leaving at the end of the season to become the president of the Savannah Sand Gnats in the low-A South Atlantic League.

"This is the most difficult decision I've made in my life," Katz said on Tuesday.

Katz has been the general manager since Nov. 2005 and the team broke its franchise attendance record in 2007.

Salem got infielder Zach Borowiak back from a brief trip to triple-A Pawtucket on Sunday. Bowowiak played two games at shortstop in Pawtucket. He did not get a hit, but had two sacrifice bunts and was hit by a pitch. Salem's roster remains one player short at 24.

Infielder Zach Borowiak (.216, 14 RBIs) was promoted to triple-A Pawtucket on Friday. There was no addition to the Salem roster, which is down two men to 23.

Salem outfielder Daniel Nava was promoted to double-A Portland on Wednesday. Nava hit .339 with 12 doubles and 13 RBIs in 29 games with Salem.

He'll be replaced on the roster by Jered Stanley, returning to Salem from low-A Greenville. Stanley hit .233 hit 35 games in his first stint with Salem. He has hit .228 with six doubles and 13 RBIs in 28 games with Greenville.

Catcher Luis Exposito was promoted from the Salem Red Sox to the double-A Portland Sea Dogs on Monday. Exposito hit .274 with 24 doubles, one triple, six homers and 45 RBIs for Salem.