He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1997 to 2013, appearing for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, and Seattle Mariners.

[2] Blanco began his professional baseball career in 1989 when, he was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent.

[1] In December 1998, Blanco signed a contract to play for the Colorado Rockies and won the starting catcher's role for the 1999 season.

[4] Hitting for a .232 batting average, he embellished his defensive credentials by leading National League catchers with 39 baserunners caught stealing.

[8] His batting average fell to .210 in the 2001 season and, in March 2002, he was traded to the Atlanta Braves for Paul Bako and José Cabrera.

[2] Although he only produced 22 runs batted in, he had 5 game-winning RBIs and provided solid defense, helping the Braves win the National League Eastern Division title.

[16] He was credited for helping the Twins pitching staff with his game-calling skills, guiding them to the lowest team earned run average in the league.

[17][18] Twins pitcher, Johan Santana, gave Blanco credit for helping him win the 2004 American League Cy Young Award.

[1] He started all four games of the 2004 American League Division Series, hitting 1 home run along with a .250 batting average as the Twins lost to the New York Yankees.

[33] Blanco made the opening day roster for Toronto as the batterymate to recently acquired 2012 NL Cy Young winner R. A. Dickey.

[36] In Blanco's first game with the Mariners on June 15 (against the Oakland Athletics), he hit a grand slam down the left field line.

[37] On July 25, Zunino broke his left hand, and Blanco began splitting the catching duties with recently signed Humberto Quintero.

This one also down the left field line, against the Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Ryan Dempster which gave the Mariners a 7–1 lead, but the bullpen allowed seven runs in the final two innings in an 8–7 loss.

[46] Blanco made his managerial debut with the Bravos de Margarita club of the Venezuelan League in the 2014–2015 season.