Boros’ Future With Padres in Doubt; Bowa in Wings

San Diego Padres President Ballard Smith refused to say Friday whether Steve Boros would be back as manager in 1987, but sources outside the organization said it is “very likely” Boros will be replaced next week by Larry Bowa, the Padres’ 1986 Triple-A manager at Las Vegas.

Smith confirmed that he, Boros and General Manager Jack McKeon met Friday to discuss Boros’ future with the club, and reiterated that there would be no announcement about Boros until after the World Series.

Also, Smith said McKeon will make the managerial decision.

“Jack is the head of the baseball operations, and Jack will be making the recommendation as to what he’d like to do with the manager,” Smith said. “ . . . Unless there would be some overwhelming objection, we (Smith and Padre owner Joan Kroc) will go with his recommendation.”

McKeon would not comment Friday.

Boros, who leaves today on an eight-day cruise to Tahiti, could not be reached. Sources said he would continue to work within the Padre organization, mostly at the developmental level.

Bowa, meanwhile, said Friday that the Padres have not contacted him. He said he was told to wait until after the World Series, so he is not alarmed.

“I was thinking they’d call maybe Monday or Tuesday (of next week),” Bowa said.

Bowa, 41, finished his 16-year major league career in 1985. And this season, his first as a manager, he led the Las Vegas Stars to the Pacific Coast League championship.

Earlier this year, McKeon had said of Bowa: “They (the Las Vegas players) loved him. They knew he was tough . . . but they respected him.”