While primarily a left fielder, Ibañez often saw considerable time as a designated hitter (DH), throughout his career.

[2] Ibañez attended Miami Sunset Senior High School, where he played on the baseball team as a catcher.

Ibañez played for the Class-A Appleton Foxes again in 1994, and batted .312 with 102 hits, 30 doubles, 3 triples, 7 home runs, 59 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases in 91 games.

He started the season with the Double-A Port City Roosters where he batted .368 with 28 hits, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, and 13 RBIs in 19 games.

He was later promoted to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers where he batted .284 with 115 hits, 20 doubles, 3 triples, 11 home runs, and 47 RBIs in 111 games.

[10] On September 27, Ibañez hit his first major league home run against the Oakland Athletics' pitcher Mike Oquist.

[12] Ibañez started the 1998 season with the Triple-A Rainiers and batted .216 with 41 hits, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs, and 25 RBIs in 52 games.

Ibañez was called up in August to the majors and batted .255 with 25 hits, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, and 12 RBIs in 37 games.

[13] Ibañez played the majority of the 1999 season with the Mariners, however, he did spend 8 games with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers and batted .335 with 11 hits.

[14] Ibañez hit the first grand slam home run in Safeco Field history, at the park's third-ever game.

On June 9, Ibañez hit a walk-off home run against St. Louis Cardinals' pitcher Mike Timlin to give the Royals a three-to-two win.

But I knew if I got an opportunity to play consistently then I would be able to perform.At the end of 2002, Ibañez batted .294 with 146 hits, 37 doubles, 6 triples, 24 home runs, and 103 RBIs in 137 games.

[24] Ibañez received the Joe Burke Special Achievement Award as voted upon by the Kansas City, Missouri chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

He also ranked third among qualifying big league left fielders in UZR, an all-inclusive fielding statistic.

The Mariners acquired the switch hitting designated hitter Carl Everett from the Chicago White Sox during the 2005 offseason, forcing Ibañez to move back to where he played before, namely left field.

[33] On April 9, 2009, Ibañez hit his first home run as a member of the Phillies, a deep, two-run shot to right field at Citizens Bank Park.

[34] Ten days later, on April 19, he hit a 2-run, walk-off home run to help the Phillies defeat the San Diego Padres.

He hit his eighth career grand slam on April 27 as part of an eighth-inning comeback to help defeat the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park.

[43] When Brett Gardner suffered an injury in April, Ibañez saw increased playing time in left field against right-handed pitchers.

[49] Two days later in the deciding game 5 against the Orioles, Ibañez ended a scoreless tie with a single in the bottom of the 5th inning.

[60] With the team struggling with a 48–50 win–loss record on July 21, following comments by manager Ned Yost that the team needed to improve its play, Ibañez led a players-only meeting, which players including Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain credited with turning around the attitudes of the players.

Having interviewed for Tampa Bay's managerial position vacated by Joe Maddon, the club named Ibañez as one of three finalists on November 21, 2014.

[62] On February 2, 2016, Ibañez was hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers as a special assistant to the President of Baseball Operations, Andrew Friedman.

[65] In 2024, he left that role to return to the Dodgers as vice president of baseball development and special projects.

[69] In the 2009 offseason, Ibañez discovered he had allergies to gluten and dairy and went on a special diet, for which he had meals delivered from Philadelphia, even while on the road.