He'd received multiple college offers to play football and basketball, but the only school interested in him as a baseball player was Division II Quincy University,[4] where he earned Great Lakes Valley Conference Freshman of the Year honors in 1998, and in 1999, was named to the All-Great Lakes Valley Conference team and was the GLVC Player of the Year.

A year later, with the Quad Cities River Bandits, he improved in both departments, batting .282 with six home runs and a .981 fielding percentage while playing all three outfield positions.

In half a season in Fort Myers, he batted .340 with five home runs and 40 RBIs to be named to the Florida State League Western division All-Star team, and was promoted to the double A New Britain Rock Cats.

Rabe made his major league debut for the Twins on July 17, 2006, as a pinch runner for Jason Kubel in the eighth inning at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

He started the 2007 season with the Twins, but a shoulder injury limited Rabe to only fourteen games, in which he batted .194 with no home runs and only two RBIs.