Major League Baseball came down heavy Monday on the players it found to have been involved with the South Florida anti-aging clinic Biogenesis, suspending Alex Rodriguez through the end of the 2014 season and banning 12 others for 50 games, including three All-Stars: Nelson Cruz of the Texas Rangers, Everth Cabrera of the San Diego Padres and Jhonny Peralta of the Detroit Tigers.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed with the news today," Rodriguez said at a news conference before Monday's game. "What we've always fought for is the process and I think we have that, and I think at some point we'll sit in front of an arbiter and we'll give our case. That's as much as I feel comfortable saying right now."

He called the past seven months a "nightmare."

"Probably the worst time of my life for sure," he said. "Obviously, for the circumstances that are at hand, and dealing with a tough surgery and a rehab program and being 38."

"I am thrilled and humbled to have the opportunity to put on this uniform again and to play major league baseball again," he continued. "I feel like I was 18 years old back in Fenway Park in 1994 when I went in to face the Red Sox for the very first time. It's been 20 years ... very excited to get out there to play baseball and to help my team win and to prove to myself, my teammates, the fans of New York, the fans of baseball, that I still have a shot to play the game at a high level and I'm going to give it my best."

Asked if he denies using performance-enhancing drugs, he said: "We'll have a forum to discuss all of that and we'll talk about it then."

MLB commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement that Rodriguez's punishment will begin Thursday and cover the rest of the 2013 regular season, the 2013 postseason and the 2014 regular season. He explained that the suspension was allowed under the drug program's protocols and was based on Rodriguez's "use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone, over the course of multiple years."

"Rodriguez's discipline under the Basic Agreement is for attempting to cover-up his violations of the program by engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the Office of the Commissioner's investigation," Selig said in the statement.

Rodriguez's suspension is the equivalent of 211 regular-season games because he has 72 hours to inform baseball that he will appeal. His lawyer, David Cornwell, said Rodriguez would appeal and he would "pursue all legal remedies available to Alex."

Rodriguez will be allowed to play until his appeal is heard.