I'm not buying what you're selling. Ellsbury's contract is every bit as risky as Cano's. If Ellsbury can't play CF at an elite level while replicating the high BABIPs (this is more likely than the high-level D IMO) for at least five years of the contract, it's unlikely the Yanks can escape calling the contract an albatross. Cano is a good enough hitter that if his offensive output remains solid and he ends up moving to 3B or 1B, he's a lot more likely of providing value at the back-end of the contract than Ellsbury is. And if we account for health, while Ellsbury's injuries have been "freaky" Cano has been the model for durability throughout his career.
In the end, this is debating what's worse: Anus-on-fire diarrhea or eye vein popping constipation. The truth is that both contracts are likely to end up being an albatross, but you're seriously undermining just how much better a ballplayer Cano is than Ellsbury, and that is mental masturbation in my humble opinion.