OP question: Any way possible. if it improves my team and is financially responsible, i do it. simple as that. i thoroughly understand my given budget (how small/large it gets, why, how consistent i can keep it high - everything about it) and what various production is worth, i.e. what i will pay for it and when i pass on it. 200M budget = not many worries but still restrained in quantity of studs i can pay in perpetuity. as a budget goes smaller you get more limited in buying talent and more dependent on the draft and int'l FA amatuers. everything stated must be relative to market size.
never depend on discoveries (first budget i cut if needed). You should always spend what you can on int'l amatuer free agents -- whatever the budget allows that year without penalties. when and if you can go over budget on them, go all out. even buying those cheap guys upto ~3M will unearth a piece or two each year or more. (a piece is anythign useable on the field or in trades etc... creates value of some sort). even when you have penalties you can sign a bunch of players for < $250k.
Know how to maximize your budget relative to market size. you can spend more you can build faster. if you have the money it takes 1-3 years to turn a team into a WS-caliber roster.
They've massively changed tickets and that revenue stream either this year or at least recently. once you get fans going crazy, try bumping season ticket sales as high as you can get in the offseason - a little less than ~1/2 attendance give or take a bit is what i aim for. then as the season goes you can actually get the price at or above that figure - if winning a ton. keep raising it in the playoffs, and leave it a thte highest level until you progress to offseason so it locks in at that high price - i *think* this may influence how high you can price it the next year. then after winter meetings end start figuring out the price for less than ~1/2 sold all over again.
i'm fairly sure you can actually make more money with less than full attendance. i like hitting max attendance, but in a small market you should go for max income. don't be afraid to try different things. i got gate revenue for a 54.2k stadium on default financial settings in a draft pick trading league (crazy win totals* due to pick trading could make this unrelateable****) up to $184+ million
108M gate and 76 season ticket. so, gouge those season ticket holders!!! 9 home playoff games can equal 30-32M more. 210M just from ticket sales and playoffs potentially.
start paying attention to ticket prices on a game-by-bame basis and you will make a tone more money. fri-sat-sun can be 1-2 dollars higher even early in the season... larger gap later in the season as you keep increasing it as demand allows.
learn by clicking "play game vs blah blah" from the top, then look at attendance and quit game... change price and learn again... after a few years you'll understand what's going on and just "eyeball" it and you'll do nearly as well.
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in response to the last few posts:
i've noticed the "development influence" and "relationships" given in the coach profile don't quite match up to what the manual says about controlling managers. i've played with it a bit year-to-year as my team changes and ages. i'm not being very systematic or making a spreadsheet, but it's been very consistent, so far.
I see that a controlling manager only has an "Average" development influence each year i check. even if my team is all less than 10 years in the league - most were less than 4-5 at one point. my entire lineup was under 27-28. personable and easygoing seem to be the best for a big league manager - assuming a strong team that will naturally avoid prolonged losing stretches. that goes for relationships, too.
whether they favor various hitters or pitchers has a stronger influence on relationships than management personality (controlling etc, i am using the wrong label, probably), and the personality affects development environment more... but the feedback is the opposite of what the manual says about "controlling." controlling always worsens my development environment, so far.
sum up:
favor various hitters and pitcher types = relationships
manager personality = development environment, but controlling worsens it according to coach profile feedback on my team(s).
and some crossover, but these make the largest change