The history of the No. 6 overall pick

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The Cubs are set to pick sixth in Monday's MLB Amateur Draft, the fourth time in franchise history they've come in at that spot.

In 1965, the first Free Agent Amateur Draft, the Cubs selected Rick James sixth overall.

No, not that Rick James. A right-handed pitcher out of Alabama. James appeared in just three games in his major-league career, compiling a 13.50 ERA in 4.2 innings. He was out of baseball by the time he turned 23, playing his last season with the Cubs' minor-league system in 1970.

Almost 20 years later, the Cubs selected sixth again, taking another right-handed pitcher Jackie Davidson in 1983. He never made it to the majors and played 10 years of professional baseball, compiling a 4.81 career ERA.

In 2003, the Cubs once again had the sixth pick and once again missed with it. They took outfielder Ryan Harvey out of high school and he never climbed above Double-A. He compiled a career minor-league slash line of .245.297.451 and a scary 161:735 strikeout-walk ratio. Harvey last played in the minors in 2010 with the Rockies and is now in the Independent league.

However, just because the Cubs have had some rough luck with the No. 6 overall pick in the draft doesn't mean other franchises have had the same experience, as Patrick Mooney pointed out Saturday.

The Yankees struck gold when high school shortstop Derek Jeter fell to them at sixth in 1992 and now "The Captain" is a first-ballot Hall of Famer with more than 3,000 hits and engineered five World Series championships.

The Royals took Zack Greinke sixth in 2002 and he rewarded them with a Cy Young in 2009, going 16-8 with a league-leading 2.16 ERA and 1.07 WHIP.

Dating back to the mid-'80s, two iconic players were taken sixth overall in back-to-back years. The Pirates nabbed Barry Bonds in 1985 and the Brewers selected Gary Sheffield a year later.

The Devil Rays grabbed Rocco Baldelli in 2000 and while he hasn't done much in the majors lately, he was third in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2003. Ricky Romero (2005) has been a revelation at the top of the Blue Jays' rotation, compiling a 35-21 record to go with a 3.41 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 7.3 K9 over 75 starts the past three seasons.

Andrew Miller (Tigers, 2006) was drafted as a starter, but has seemingly found his niche as a left-handed reliever with the Red Sox, as he has a 2.31 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and 11.6 K9 heading into play Sunday.

Ross Detwiler (Nationals, 2007) has been a boost to Washington's pitch staff over the past couple of seasons and kicked off 2012 with a 1.59 ERA through his first five starts. He recently lost his rotation spot to Chien-Ming Wang, but will act as the Nationals' long reliever.

It's impossible to predict how the career will play out for any of these guys in the 2012 draft, but past history proves there are impact players available at No. 6. It's just a matter of whether Theo Epstein, Jason McLeod and Co. will be able to separate one from the pack.

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