A system and method of managing cache hierarchies with adaptive mechanisms. A preferred embodiment of the present invention includes, in response to selecting a data block for eviction from a memory cache (the source cache) out of a collection of memory caches, examining a data structure to determine whether an entry exists that indicates that the data block has been evicted from the source memory cache, or another peer cache, to a slower cache or memory and subsequently retrieved from the slower cache or memory into the source memory cache or other peer cache. Also, a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes, in response to determining the entry exists in the data structure, selecting a peer memory cache out of the collection of memory caches at the same level in the hierarchy to receive the data block from the source memory cache upon eviction.