He played a total of seven seasons for the Houston Astros, Colorado Rockies, Cincinnati Reds, and Washington Nationals.

Taveras made his major league debut as a member of the Houston Astros late in the 2004 season, appearing in 10 games, primarily as a pinch runner.

In 2005, Taveras became the Astros' starting center fielder as a rookie, replacing Carlos Beltrán, who had signed as a free agent with the New York Mets in the prior offseason.

In Game 4 of the 2005 National League Championship Series (NLCS) against the St. Louis Cardinals, Taveras entered in the seventh inning as a pinch runner and scored the winning run on a short sacrifice fly to center field.

In the eighth, Taveras' catch while running up Tal's Hill deep in center field at Minute Maid Park ended the inning and preserved a 2–1 lead.

[1] In 2006, Taveras' batting average regressed to .278, though he again led the majors in bunt hits (21) and had 33 stolen bases (10th in the NL), but just 30 RBI.

During the 2007 regular season, Taveras hit .320, including an MLB-leading 27 bunt singles, 2 home runs, 24 RBIs, 33 stolen bases, and caught stealing 9 times.

On February 15, 2010, Taveras signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals with an invite to spring training.

He spent the 2011 season with the Rockies Triple-A affiliate Colorado Springs Sky Sox, batting .308 in 97 games with a .336 on-base percentage.

[10] On December 11, 2012, Taveras was signed to a minor league contract by the Kansas City Royals with an invitation to spring training.

On February 21, 2017, Taveras, along with Chad Gaudin, Daric Barton, Nyjer Morgan, Manny Rodriguez, and Rodolfo Amador, were traded to the Acereros de Monclova in exchange for RHP Joaquín Lara.

In addition, Taveras is an exceptionally poor power hitter, producing the lowest slugging percentage among all regular major league outfielders for both the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

A cousin of Taveras, Leody, is also an outfielder in Major League Baseball who signed with the Texas Rangers as an international free agent in 2015 and made his MLB debut in 2020.