A closer look at O's high school picks with Gary Rajsich (Delmarva's All-Stars)

One question that has come up since the end of day one of the First-Year Player Draft last night concerns the two high school players the Orioles drafted.

After selecting Florida State outfielder DJ Stewart in round one, the O's took Florida high school shortstop Ryan Mountcastle No. 36 overall and Georgia high school pitcher Jonathan Hughes at No. 68.

Mountcastle was ranked No. 110 by MLBPipeline.com and No. 122 by Baseball America. Hughes was ranked No. 188 by MLBPipeline.com and No. 255 by Baseball America.

Opinions vary greatly when it comes to amateur talent, and also keep in mind that while some outlets post rankings, in some cases they may not actually see the players play as much as the Orioles area scouts did.

I've heard that the Orioles had both those players ranked in the top 50 on their draft board. This morning, I asked Gary Rajsich about the rankings disparity.

"We don't pay much attention to those rankings," he said. "If there is a player that you want and you think he is going to be a good pick and big leaguer in the future, then you've got to take him. If you believe a kid is a big league player or pitcher, you can't take them high enough."

Here are the allotted slot bonuses for the players drafted last night:

Round 1 (#25) - $2,064,500
Round 1 (#36) - $1,711,900
Round 2 (#68) - $907,000

Under the draft rules from the latest collective bargaining agreement, teams have a pool of money allotted to them from which to sign their top 10 round players. The Orioles pool is $6.85 million. If a team saves some money signing one player, it could spend more on another.

So were the Orioles looking to potentially save some dollars on the high school picks for later use?

"That factors in also. The draft kind of takes care of that," Rajsich said.

But then I asked him if signability for Mountcastle and Hughes factored in more than their talent?

"Talent. It's always the talent," he said.

Hughes was in for a private workout with the Orioles on June 1 at Camden Yards. A workout attended by the Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette.

The draft resumes today at 1 p.m. as teams select players in rounds 3 through 10.

"Still a lot of good players on the board. We are looking forward to seeing how the names come off. There are still several options for us and a lot of players that we like," Rajsich said.

Delmarva's All Stars: The South Atlantic League announced the rosters for the league's 2015 All-Star Game this morning and the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds have three players named to the North Division team: outfielder Conor Bierfeldt, infielder Jomar Reyes and infielder Steve Wilkerson.

The 24-year-old Bierfeldt leads the league and is tied for fifth in all of minor league baseball with 48 RBIs. He is also tied for third in the SAL with seven home runs. Bierfeldt, a 29th round selection by the Orioles in the 2013 draft, has 24 home runs in 173 career games with Delmarva. He also set the Aberdeen Ironbirds' single-season home run record with 12 in 2013.

Reyes, 18, has lived up to his top prospect status in the first half of the 2015 season, hitting .274 with two home runs and 20 RBIs through 50 games. He also showed gap power with 12 doubles and three triples. Reyes entered the season as the No. 10 ranked prospect in the Orioles' farm system according to Baseball America.

Wilkerson, 23, was able to earn a selection despite being on the disabled list since May 24. He leads Delmarva with a .309 average and a .417 on-base percentage. Selected in the eighth round of the 2014 draft, Wilkerson leads Shorebirds infielders with a .978 fielding percentage.

Delmarva pitcher Donnie Hart, who has not given up a run in 15 innings on the year, was not picked for the game. Hart is 1-0 in 17 games, 10-for-10 in save chances and has fanned 15.

Delmarva has now had multiple players selected to the game for the second year in a row. The 56th SAL All-Star Game will be held on Tuesday, June 23 at McCormick Field in Asheville, NC.