He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals.

[1] Following his prep career, he was selected in the 18th round of the 1999 Major League Baseball draft by his hometown Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

[2] Raburn started off the 2003 season with West Michigan, but he appeared in only 16 games for the Whitecaps before moving on to the Lakeland Tigers in late April.

On September 16, Raburn got his first hit, an RBI double on a pitch from Cleveland Indians pitcher CC Sabathia.

[2] Raburn spent the entire 2005 season with Toledo, posting a .253 batting average and hitting 19 home runs in 130 games.

This left him unprotected in the Rule 5 draft, allowing any team to add him for a cost of $50,000, provided he spent the entire season on a major league roster.

Raburn returned to the major leagues for the first time since 2004 when Tigers utility infielder Neifi Pérez was suspended 25 games after testing positive for amphetamine usage.

[4] On July 25 against the Chicago White Sox, Raburn went 4–5 with two home runs, a double and a single and had a total of seven RBIs.

Manager Jim Leyland often employed Raburn as a late-innings defensive replacement in the outfield or as a pinch runner.

Raburn hit his first career grand slam on June 28, 2008, against Colorado Rockies pitcher Jeff Francis.

[2] During spring training, Raburn spent time learning the catcher position, as well as first base, in an effort to provide more versatility to his resume.

On June 23, 2009, Raburn hit his first career walk-off home run to lift the Tigers over the Chicago Cubs 5–4.

[8] Raburn entered the 2010 season as a key bench player expecting to see time at every defensive position except catcher and shortstop.

Raburn's batting average slumped in the first half (.213 at the All-Star break), but he showed flashes of power with eight home runs.

Andy Dirks and new acquisition Delmon Young played Raburn's left field position for much of the second half while he saw more time at second base.

Although his six Spring training homers shared the team lead,[9] Raburn began the regular season mired in a significant slump, at one point batting .091 (4 for 44).

[14] On January 19, 2013, Raburn signed a minor league deal with the Cleveland Indians with an invitation to spring training.

Raburn, with Mike Avilés, Jason Giambi and Yan Gomes, was a member of the Indians bench dubbed the 'Goon Squad'.