NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — On Thursday, at precisely 9 a.m., virtually every front office executive in baseball, as well as scores of scouts, agents and most writers covering the sport, gathered in an enormous banquet hall at the Gaylord Hotel.

They came together for the Rule 5 draft, a unique and rapid-fire event on the baseball calendar, where most of the nonuniformed decision makers in baseball assemble in one room for about half an hour on the final morning of the winter meetings, pick players most people have never heard of and then sprint headlong for the airport for their journeys home.

After more than three dizzying days of trade talks, negotiations, bluffs, rumors, signings and actual trades, the Rule 5 draft is the unofficial closing ceremony of the winter meetings. It’s a bit like the finale of the Olympics, but without the laser shows, extravagant costumes and lavish dance routines.

“Aside from making deals, which have their own reward, it’s the best part of the winter meetings,” said Sandy Alderson, the Mets’ general manager, who lost two minor league players in the draft Thursday. “Everybody is in there, and everybody wants to see what’s going to happen.”