With their eighth round pick in the 2014 MLB Draft, the Orioles picked second baseman Steve Wilkerson from Clemson University. This is the first position player that they have taken in the draft, following four pitchers. Wilkerson is a senior who is a switch hitter.
Wilkerson is listed at 6'2" and 200 lbs. on Clemson's athletics website. As a senior, he's batted .317/.383/.502 with six home runs in 56 games for Clemson. He had the most total bases of any of the Clemson hitters. Wilkerson was not rated on the Baseball America 500 draft prospect list.
The slot value of this pick is $157,300. You and I would be happy to play baseball for that amount, but the remaining top high school talents such as Jake Bukauskas and Mac Marshall probably have their sights set higher. Since Wilkerson is a senior, it's possible he will end up taking less than this, and some small amount of money could be allocated elsewhere, but there are unlikely to be any big surprises.
In the history of Orioles eighth round picks, only three have ever had any major league time. The most recent of these was 2001 draftee Chris Britton, who was traded for Kris Benson. Recent Orioles 8th rounder Torsten Boss was traded for Preston Guilmet earlier this year.
Last year's eighth round pick was Trey Mancini, a first baseman from the University of Notre Dame, who has been playing at Delmarva this season.