For the second straight year, the Royals needed nearly every minute before the deadline to reach an agreement with their first-round pick.</p><p>Less than five minutes before the 11 p.m. cutoff Friday, the Royals agreed to terms with Eric Hosmer, an 18-year-old left-handed slugging first baseman who immediately becomes one of the organization&#8217;s top prospects.</p><p>Hosmer receives a $6 million bonus, the biggest in franchise history, surpassing the $4 million for Mike Moustakas last year and Alex Gordon in 2006.</p><p>The contract is not a major-league deal, meaning the Royals still have one open spot on their 40-man roster.</p><p>&#8220;This is a very proud moment for this organization,&#8221; said scouting director Deric Ladnier. &#8220;Anytime this organization has the opportunity to secure an excellent talent, and a guy we feel is going to be a major part of putting this organization on the right track, we can&#8217;t miss out on those types of opportunities.&#8221;</p><p>This deal took even longer than last year, when the Royals and Moustakas agreed about 10 minutes before the deadline.</p><p>In reaching a deal with the Royals, Hosmer took a pass on a baseball scholarship from Arizona State.</p><p>Hosmer was being advised by super agent Scott Boras, but he insisted before the draft that the final decision would be his and his alone.</p><p>Time will be the ultimate judge, but right now the Royals appear to have completed one of their best drafts in years.</p><p>In addition to Hosmer, widely considered the best power-hitting prospect in the draft and a player some teams had at the top of their draft boards, the Royals added another first-round talent in right-handed high school pitcher Tim Melville.</p><p>Melville, <em>Baseball America</em>&#8217;s No. 15 overall prospect before the draft, slid to the fourth round because of signability questions. He agreed to a $1.25 million bonus with the Royals on Friday.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s been building up all summer, so now that it&#8217;s finally happened, I&#8217;m really excited,&#8221; Melville said. &#8220;With any other team I kind of would&#8217;ve doubted it, but I felt so good about the Royals, I knew it&#8217;d be a perfect fit.&#8221;</p><p>There is joy in the Royals&#8217; front office about signing Melville and Hosmer, but there is also relief. Missing out on Hosmer would have been a disaster for an organization short on prospects and long on disappointments over the last decade.</p><p>&#8220;No doubt,&#8221; general manager Dayton Moore said. &#8220;Deric and the staff said all along this guy&#8217;s the most impactful player in the draft, with certainly the highest upside. If we&#8217;re going to win championships in Kansas City, we have to take guys we think are going to be All-Stars and not just major-leaguers.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve got to take players who we think are going to be big-time players, and that&#8217;s what excites me about Eric.&#8221;</p><p>Ladnier describes Hosmer&#8217;s power as &#8220;enormous&#8221; and also says he&#8217;s a potential Gold Glove first baseman with the ability to hit for average.</p><p>He said Hosmer&#8217;s personality and makeup were &#8220;off the charts,&#8221; comparing his leadership potential to that of Moustakas.</p><p>&#8220;Obviously, ability is the first thing,&#8221; Ladnier said. &#8220;But to get those types of people in this organization, it makes every other player in this organization better.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226;<strong>CROW DOESN&#8217;T SIGN: </strong>The Washington Nationals failed to sign first-round draft pick Aaron Crow by Friday night&#8217;s midnight deadline, winding up $900,000 apart in negotiations. Crow, who pitched for Missouri, was the No. 9 overall pick.