NEW YORK -- Facebook friends. Transcripts of BlackBerry instant messages. Records of texts.

Major League Baseball investigators used an arsenal of high-tech tools to collect the evidence that persuaded a dozen players to accept 50-game suspensions this week for their ties to the Biogenesis clinic.

When it came time to meet with the players' association, the investigators flashed some of their documentary proof. While there was not enough time for the union to thoroughly examine what MLB had collected, there was little doubt there was an electronic trail, one of the people familiar with the meetings said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no public statements were authorized.

"It both complicates things and adds a layer of proof that certainly wasn't available many years ago," union general counsel David Prouty said Tuesday.